Prince EXO3 White Tennis Racquet Review 

I have to say up front that I was predisposed to not like this racquet. I was sponsored by Prince for a while a few years back, and not only did I not like the racquets that much, I found the roundish shape of the handles to be problematic. So the first thing I noticed when I picked this racquet up to hit with it, was the nice squarish traditional type panels on the grip and the textured grip material which made the handle very easy to grip and very comfortable to play with. Then I started playing min-tennis with a junior player to warm them up for their lesson and we were having longer rallies than usual right away, largely because I could spin the ball with a softer spin and a higher loop with this racquet right away. The kid I was hitting with has a spin based game already and before long we were hitting from corner to corner, land the ball in the middle of the service box and trying to out-spin the other person with severe spin and angle. It was really fun and I think that is the thing I like best about this frame. It is just a fun racquet to hit with.

Now Prince of course thinks the Prince EX03 White is designed for intermediate to advanced level players, and I would dispute that canard right off the top. For one thing the racquet specifications fairly clearly dictate that this racquet should be used as:

1. A transitional first adult racquet for juniors with good technique; or
2. As the main frame by a small framed adult player in the 4.0-4.5 range; or
3. As the main frame by a beginner who decides fairly early on to invest in good equipment; or
4. By a senior player of intermediate to advanced skill level who is looking for something that will not stress there arm or require a lot of strength to use.

The frame is the standard 27 inches and comes with a 100 square inch head. It weighs 10.9 ounces strung and according to Prince is slightly head light. I and every player who hit with it found the racquet to be slightly head heavy, using the tried and true method of balancing the frame on a finger placed inside the V of the neck. To me the balance is a good thing since it makes it a little more of a baseliner racquet and provides a little more pop on ground strokes from the back of the court.

I liked hitting ground stokes with this racquet. There was a nice fluid feel to the movement thorough the air, and unlike a lot of Prince racquets in the past, there was little vibration. I had to hold back some and spin the ball a lot to keep the ball in the court, but a player who hits with a lot of topspin(or slice) or a pusher will love this frame. There was nice power on the serve-although I have to say my shoulder started hurting right away, and I never hit a serve even close to all out with this racquet. Volleys were a little overpowered for my taste, but the players who should be using this frame, will find the racquet a help on their volleys for sure. A little cheap power is a good deal in some quarters.

I think this racquet will be a good fit for a certain defined set of players. I think that more advanced players, with full swings will find it difficult to manage their games with this frame. And I think that using Luxilon type strings in this racquet will make it thumpy and a little dead. Nice midrange stringing with good syn gut should do nicely here.